Sweven

SAINT SEBASTIAN - 14:02

"I told her not to clan up," Leo said aloud, pacing back and forth at Carolina's beside. "I told her it was a bad idea and now look at her."

Gerald was managing her vitals, slowly watching her skin lose its color, only to be replaced with frost. "It doesn't matter now, it's already done."

"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter'? She's two levels down now — "

"Her consciousness is safe," Gerald interrupted. "You gotta keep in mind it's everyone with a deceptor now. You, me, Lina, Val, Star. Everyone."

Leo sat down, running his hands down his face. "Lemme talk to her."

Gerald's eyebrow twitched, "That's not — "

"You said you've done this before."

"Yeah, to borderline catatonic witch," he pointed out. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"And if something goes wrong, I'll be safe in the second level." Leo was only guessing, all he ever did was go with the flow. "I just wanna talk to her."

Gerald sighed, "If you get stuck, I'm not takin' the heat."

"Understood." Leo watched as Gerald went through Carolina's first aid kit, hooking up wires to a syringe he found. It looked complicated, to Leo, but Gerald moved as swift as ever. Like he'd done it a million times prior.

"I designed the level," Gerald said, inserting the needle into the inner corner of Leo's arm. "It's a simple landscape. Four acres. A hay field — are you allergic to hay?"

"Nope."

"Cool, so a hay field, a farmhouse and a lake. Nothing too fancy. I spent about twelve hours on it, I was in a hurry. If there's any glitches, lemme know so I can rewrite the ... "

Leo felt a pain surge throughout his right cheek, he didn't know what it was from but everything around him was pitch black. His eyes fluttered open, adjusting to his surroundings as the light streamed in. But there was no sunlight in Sweven.

He heard a door creak open, with footsteps trailing after. He groggily placed his hands on the ground, holding up his body weight. Everything was yellow, the hay Gerald described. He was on a hill valley, surrounded my mountains of burnt grass.

His sight hadn't fully restored but Carolina was jogging toward him from a wooden house, in the middle of nowhere. She was wearing regular clothes; a jean jacket and leggings. He's never seen her wear pants before, the witches were known for their wine stained skirts.

Kneeling, she grabbed a hold of his arms, helping him up. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He blinked a few times, adjusting to the sunlight, making sure it was really her. "Uh, how about a 'hello, Leo'? I did risk my life coming here — "

"I didn't ask you to," she interjected.

"Wow." He scowled, "Forgive me for giving a shit about your safety and wellbeing."

"It's your fault!"

"Are you for real — ? What? You offered!" He stammered. "You were in with Gerald way before I showed up at Sea. You're the one who using your telekinesis shit, I didn't ask for any of this — "

"No, you just roll with it like you always do."

"What is your problem?" Leo tilted his head, "You've only been down here a few minutes — "

"You see, that's where you're wrong," she met his eyes. "Right, I forgot, you're always the last to know everything."

"What are you talking about?"

She paused, "Everything in Sweven is multiplied by twelve, right?"

He nodded.

"Well everything in here is multiplied, too," she informed him. "And I've had a lot of time to think, Leo. And you know what I concluded?"

He shrugged, "What?"

"That if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here in the first place — "

"Bull."

"No, Leo, because you know damn well if this never happened, you wouldn't still be here," she incited. "You'd be at Saint Sebastian looking for your little boyfriend."

"Maybe I will, Lina. Will that make you happy? At least I can get out of this hell hole. You know what?" He turned on his heels, walking in the other direction. "I'm out of here — how the fuck do I get out of here?"

"You're not gonna find him!" He heard her voice shout over his shoulder.

He waved his hand, not listening. "Whatever, Lina."

"You're not gonna find him, because you already did!"

Leo stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder before picking up his feet without deciding whether or not it was a good idea. "What the fuck did you just say?"

She was looking up at him, "You heard me."

Leo grabbed a hold of her neck, both hands squeezing hard.

"Leo — " she struggled to say.

He let go once it clicked in his brain, waiting for her coughing to died down. "Get up."

She was clutching the grown, digging her nails into the dirt. Growling under her breath, Carolina grew cautious of his next possible attack.

"But Kev," he couldn't string the right words together. "But Kev said it was a stupid game."

"What can I say? I'm a terrific liar."

Leo blinked, "But we — we were together. How — who did I meet first?"

"Lina," she answered.

"So what you," he stuttered. "You hook up with me here but when you put it together that this isn't real you seduce me in RL."

"Oh, fuck you, Leo," she shouted. "It wasn't some elaborate plan, okay? It's just happened."

"Oh, it just happened?"

"Yeah."

"You just so happened to catfish me to the most extreme level someone can be catfished?"

"What I do as Lina has nothing to do with Kev," she explained. "Just like Gerald."

"He's not a whole nother gender!"

"And how would you know? Have you met him?" She asked, waiting for a response she wasn't going to get. "If you're bi, pan, gay even, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I get it, your religion doesn't — "

"I'm not ashamed of anything," he retorted.

"So, what? You're pissed I'm really a guy? I knew you liked Lina more than Kev, I'm not surprised. I mean, she can do a lot I can't — "

"I'm not pissed that Lina isn't real," he gulped. "I'm pissed that not only you lied about it, but it took me to come down here for you to tell me."